17th JBAN 2013

JBAN - Japan's Balloon Artist Network with Emily's Balloons presents it's 17th Convention in Tokyo, Japan!

This is the second time that I have been invited to teach at JBAN and on each occasion I have found it to be a truly magical experience.

This years JBAN theme was 'CARNIVAL', a truly great theme used as inspiration for some of the competitions and of course the final night party!

There were 5 competitions including Large Sculpture -no theme, Photo Spot (a place to take photographs) - Carnival theme, Helium Bouquet - no theme, Hat - Carnival theme and a Twister Live... twisters showing off their skills to an audience.

It's a Boy - how to make a 'balloon baby' fit for a Prince!

In celebration of the new baby Prince of Cambridge, I would like to share this recipe that I created to compliment the Rachel Ellen Baby Boy balloon launched earlier this year!

What a great opportunity to install a new window display to celebrate this wonderful occasion!

It's a Boy! Design created by Sue Bowler CBA

How to inflate a Microfoil™ balloon inside a Qualatex Bubble - Part 2

Recently I posted a blog on how to inflate a Microfoil™ balloon inside a Qualatex Bubble balloon, if you missed it, click HERE, the blog also includes a short clip showing step by step how to create this great effect!

15" Qualatex Bubble with 14" Qualatex Soft Giraffe Inside! Design by Sue Bowler CBA

In the second part of this blog I would like to show you how to create the same effect but this time using a Qualatex 15" Bubble with a small Microfoil Shape balloon inside... quite a tricky process as you also have to heat seal the Microfoil balloon... now there's a challenge for you!

This technique can be used on all Qualatex Bubble balloons making them a unique and custom designed balloon!

Turning a hobby into a career - Lily Tan's amazing journey!

Lily Tan - 'Giraffe and Me'

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Lily as a 'Very Best Balloon Blog' guest artist!

If like me you are in awe of Lily's amazing designs you may be surprised that she started out working with balloons as a hobby, but I will let Lily tell you her story...

Lily Tan is a renowned artist, widely recognised for her innovation and excellence in Balloon Sculpting. She is a locally self-groomed artist, whose accidental hobby has evolved into her passion for balloon art today.

After completing her 3-year Diploma for Fine Arts course at Nanyang Academy of Fine Art (NAFA) Singapore in 1990, Lily worked as an Assistant Art Director in an Ad Agency. Her job in the Agency had allowed her to explore art beyond imagination.

How to inflate a Microfoil™ balloon inside a Qualatex Bubble - Part 1

I have seen a number of requests recently on the Qualatex© Facebook group asking how to put a Microfoil balloon inside a Qualatex Deco Bubble?

I am always up for a challenge and decided that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to write a blog with step-by-step instructions on how to do it!

Is it easy? No, it's not one of the easiest techniques, but the effect is pretty cool!

I suppose the first thing to decide is why are you doing this?

What are you trying to achieve, does it add value to the design that you are creating? Once you have decided that it's perfect for you then it's time to have a go!

The hardest part of the whole process is getting the pressure balance correct with both balloons, and of course, closing the Bubble so that air/helium does not escape once you have completed the inflation part!

How can we 'jazz up' our quotes?

      

In the past few weeks I have decorated two birthday parties, one to celebrate a 21st Birthday and the other an almost 'surprise' 50th birthday! 

I do not decorate very often any more, not because I don't want to, but it is not so easy when you have other commitments and cannot guarantee being available... but I was delighted to have the opportunity to go through the whole process once again from consultation to completion. 

It's funny because when I teach a class these days I try to include a small section covering 'selling techniques', as I feel this is such a vital part of our business, so this was my opportunity to put my words in to practice!

Both of the customer enquiries came via a telephone call, both informed me that they were on a budget and that they did not want to spend too much.

Firstly, I wanted to know a little about the person who's birthday it was, was there a theme, where was the party being held, favourite colours, anything and everything that could help me to decide what type of decor to propose.

One client wanted to meet up and discuss the party in greater detail, the other client was more than happy for me to send some ideas over the internet.

But not once did I ask them what their budget was!

Clik-Clik Balloon Bond saved the day! - This is a top tip for all balloon decorators!

Last week I was thrilled to be a guest instructor working with Robbie Furman in Ireland for the first stop of his UK & Ireland BAPIA Tour.

Mr & Mrs Zebra Design created by Sue Bowler CBA using Qualatex Balloons,  Premium Balloon Accessories  and Clik Clik Balloon Bond

My allotted  time slot was after lunch, which was great as it gave me a few hours to play & prep working with some exciting products that had been supplied by the tours very generous sponsors before my demonstration! 

After unpacking all my Qualatex balloons that I had selected to use for my demonstration it suddenly dawned on me that I did not have a heat sealer for the 9" & 14" Microfoil™ balloons that I was using in my designs... now that was a very big problem as I was using these in all but one of my designs, and therefore I needed to find a solution.